Category Archives: passage interpretation

some thoughts on prayer for the dead in 2 maccabees

Joel Watts has mentioned the on-going dispute between Protestants and Catholics as to which books are legitimately a part of Scripture.  In the interests of full disclosure, let it be known that I come down wholly on the Protestant side of that dispute.  However, my goal here isn’t to argue whether or not certain books [...]
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romans 12, text and a few thoughts

Romans 12:1-7 1Therefore I encourage you, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but rather be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may examine what [...]
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a look at genesis 6:3

I love talking about Genesis.  And now Jeff has asked a question for “Hebrew people.”  I’m pretty sure I’m not a Hebrew person, but I’m going to try to lay out exactly what’s going on in the Hebrew of Genesis 6:3.  The Hebrew reads as follows וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה לֹא־יָדוֹן רוּחִי בָאָדָם לְעֹלָם בְּשַׁגַּם הוּא בָשָׂר [...]
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and another thought . . .

In the last post, I commented on one reason I don’t see Genesis 6:3 as God setting any sort of boundary on human lifespans.  Here’s another reason:  in the only other biblical passage I know of that gives a figure for the human lifespan, the figure 120 found in Genesis 6:3 is not mentioned.  The [...]
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did God reduce lifespans to 120?

Again, some thought-swapping with Jeff, this time over at Joel Watt’s blog, has led me to post about Genesis. Genesis 6:3 says, “And Jehovah said, My spirit will not always strive with Man, for that he also is flesh;  yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.”  Or, if we translate it according [...]
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some thoughts on usury

The post that started this train of thought is here. Summary of that post:  there once was a Catholic clergyman of the 1400′s who was remarkably ahead of his times in terms of the capitalisticness of his thoughts.  Despite all this, he was entirely against the charging of interest.  Murray Rothbard, writing as an economist, [...]
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psalm 2:1-3, english translation and commentary

After church this Sunday, I joined my fellowcollegestudents for the traditional lunch and Bible study.  We focused on Psalm 2 and Matthew 28 (they’re an interesting combination).  In Psalm 2:1-3, there were some questions raised as to what exactly was being said.  Although discussion cleared up the basic issues, there were some more details I [...]
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what eternal life does to what we value

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. — Revelation 21:21 There once was a wealthy man whose death was approaching.  He summoned his lawyer and said to him, “When I die, I want to take [...]
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genocide in judges, follow-up

And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. — Judges 21:11 Earlier I alerted you to MandM‘s thought-provoking examination of genocide in the book of Joshua.  Well, part two is now online.  Enjoy. Related Posts:genocide in judges?The Snare of Wealth [...]
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venezuelan currency adjustment and what the bible says about it

Nope.  I don’t have a specific divinely revealed message for you about Venezuelan currency devaluation.  What I have instead are just some under-developed ideas to present, and all of you can make up your own minds about it.  And you can also feel free to chime in and help me make up my mind. Related [...]
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